Should the solicitor have asked for a quote??

[Communionmom]

It’s an inheritance/will one.

My aunt passed away and I am the executor and sole beneficiary of her will. I’m in Ireland and it’s normal practice to engage a solicitor to handle probate.

During the process it came to light that she had been overpaid her Old Age Pension as she had not declared some other income she had. The social welfare department claimed she had been overpaid by €70,000. The solicitor said she thought the calculation was wrong (and I agreed with her) and she would like to send it to a consultant she had used before to double check and that he cost about €300.
I gave her permission to send it to him - he agreed it was wrong and how they had calculated it incorrectly. So, based on his opinion, the solicitor asked the social to recalculate it and it got reduced to €35,000.

Today the solicitor forwarded me his invoice and it’s €1700!

This is way more than the “he’s around €300” that she said he would be. The estate will be paying the invoice but I’m wondering if she should have asked him for a quote prior to sending him the info - or just given me a heads up that it was going to be so much more.

[MadeForThis]

I would complain to the solicitor and see what they say as a first step.

[Collaborate]

I would imagine that the 300 was for the initial advice and the remainder was for negotiating the reduction. Sounds like a bargain.

[ChessieFL]

Are you sure they didn’t say he’s £300 per hour?